Life
by Dysthymia
Summary: Mark uses his past to get a date when he gets a letter from New Jersey telling him an old girlfriend has died and left a thirteen year old girl to him. I couldn't think of a better tile. A/N.
1. Chapter 1

McCormick looked at the woman at the front desk of the library Hardcastle had insisted on going to.

"Stop looking," the former judge ordered. "She's the kid of a friend of mine."

"I wasn't looking," Mark said, trying to sound like ha wasn't lying.

"I know you're lying to me."

"Is it a crime to look at an attractive woman?"

"It is when the woman is like a daughter to me."

"The woman walked over. "Be nice, Uncle Milt," she said. "He's a man. He's going to stare."

"Annette-"

"If you call me Annette again, I'll hit you. I've told you a dozen times that I go by Annie."

"I like Annie better," Mark said.

"Stop trying to impress her," Hardcastle said.

"I'm not afraid to send you outside Uncle Milt.," she said. "I can do it. I have a huge dictionary I can smack you with too."

"That's a good one," McCormick said, grinning.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Hardcastle asked.

"Oh, I think I'm fine as long as Annie doesn't hit _me_ with her dictionary."

"Hit him, Annie."

"Sorry, Uncle Milt, I have work I have to do," Annie said. As she walked away, Mark watched her.

Hardcastle hit him on the arm.

"Ow…" Mark said. "Annie, he's hitting me!"

"I still have that dictionary!" Annie called over.

Hardcastle waved a hand dismissively. "She'd never do it. That girl couldn't hurt a fly."

"I don't know about that, Milt," Mark said, still watching her. "I just saw her squash a spider."

"Well, that's the exception. Didn't you get a letter from New Jersey this morning?"

Mark straightened. "Uh, yeah, I did."

"What's it about?"

"An old girlfriend died."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"She had skin cancer. Marcia left some kids behind."

"I'm sure her family will take care of them."

"One of them is mine, judge. Marcia's family won't take her. They don't consider her to be related."

"Why not?"

"Marcia was a teenager when Addison was born. We didn't get married. What would have been the point in us getting married? We probably would have gotten divorced before we'd even been married for one year. Addison only has me left, judge."

"You want to take custody of her?"

"You don't want me to?"

"I don't need a kid running around the estate, McCormick."

"She's thirteen, not five. She has good grades. Mostly A's and B's. I don't know how she does it, but somehow she does."

"No, McCormick."

"They'll put her in a foster home, judge. I'll be damned if she's put in a home. Those places are no good."

"No."

"Fine." Mark turned around. "Hey, Annie, what do you think ought to happen when a kid's mom dies?"

"The child should go to live with the father," Annie said.

"And what if the father lives with a cranky old judge who thinks a thirteen year old girl will cramp his style?"

Annie put her hands on her hips. "Uncle Milt…"

"Alright, alright, she can come to live at the estate."

"Thanks, Annie," Mark said.

"You'll owe me dinner for this," Annie warned him.

"It's a date."

"And a movie. A good movie, not a piece of garbage like some of the stuff they're putting out now."

"I can't believe this," Hardcastle said. "You use her to get me to let you take your daughter, then you get a date with her."

"No, Uncle Milt, I got him," Annie said.


	2. Chapter 2

"She looks like you," Hardcastle said when he saw Addison.

"No, she looks like her ma. All she's got of me is her hair."

"Oh, she's got your nose too."

"She does not have my nose."

"She does too, McCormick. Who brought her out here anyway?"

"Marcia's friends Allie and Mike."

"I have another question before she gets over to the truck."

"What's that, judge?"

"Why is it that I didn't have any information on all this? I had to pull a lot of strings to get what I have about the whole situation now."

"Marcia always said that her parents were in the C.I.A. I don't know if that's true, but considering that you didn't know, it makes a helluva lot of sense."

Addison walked over to the truck as Mark got out so that she could get in. "Are you done talking about me yet?" she asked.

"Why? Does it embarrass you?"

"Yeah, it does. More than that doctor that would always hit on ma when she was at the hospital getting cancer treatments."

"He's not done embarrassing you yet," the former judge said. "Just get in."

"Who's this dirty old man?" Addison asked.

"He's the judge. Be nice to him. He has permission to spank."

"He does not," Addison objected.

"It's part of the deal with you coming here, kid," Hardcastle said. "I get to punish you any time you do something you're not allowed to do. You've already gotten your first punishment."

"For what?"

"For calling me a dirt old man. I have a lot of rules for you to. You do chores. And-"

"You're not my dad."

Mark grinned. "She's got you on that one, judge."

"Get the smirk off your face, McCormick! And don't you dare let her drive that car!"

"What car?" Addison asked, eyes lighting up.

"Don't you even think about it, young lady. You are not allowed to drive."

"I'm only thirteen. I'm not going to do _everything_ that I act like I'm going to do."

"No boyfriends allowed either. I know how teenage minds work. You'll try to change boyfriends more than you change your socks."

"I have a boyfriend in Jersey."

"Not anymore. You're not allowed to have boyfriends."

Addison glared at him.

"Don't you look at me like that, kid. You're under my hand now. Your dad is out because of me. If he goes back to San Quentin, you go into my custody. I won't be the same kind of dad he is."


	3. Chapter 3

"What time are you leaving for your date?" Hardcastle asked Mark.

"Soon," Mark said.

"Make sure you take her to a nice restaurant. Nothing trashy."

"Don't take her anywhere fancy," Addison said, shoving her way in front of Hardcastle. "It's bad manners for a first date."

"If you take her to a fast food place, she's gonna kill you," the former judge interjected.

"No, fast food is perfect unless she's allergic to grease or something," Addison said, elbowing Hardcastle sharply.

"I know all about first dates," Mark told them. "And Addie, stop hitting the donkey."

"He looks like a monkey's butt!"

"I'm grounding her!" Hardcastle told Mark.

"For saying you look like a monkey's ass?" Mark asked.

"Yes!"

"That's stupid, judge. It's just minor name calling."

After Mark had left, Addison stuck her tongue out at the formner judge.

"Keep that tongue in your mouth, or I'll glue it to a post!" Hardcastle told her.

* * *

"I love John Wayne!" Annie said after they'd finished watching a showing of John Wayne movies. "I didn't know there were any cinemas showing John Wayne movies."

"I noticed you were taking home some John Wayne movies the other day," Mark told her.

"You were snooping?"

"No, I only noticed. I didn't look on purpose."

Annie smiled. "Ok, if you say you didn't, then you didn't." After a minute or two, she asked, "how's your girl?"

"Addison's doing good. Better than I thought she would."

"But you are aware that at some point, she's just going to come crashing down on you, right? Her mother just died."

"Are you trying to give me advice?"

"I'm just warning you. Trust me, when things come crashing down, it's going to be hard. She'll be hurting. She might not want you. It's very hard to get over the death of someone close to you. You might feel like you're doing fine one day, but then the next, you're screaming."

"Are you done with the warning?"

"If you understand it."

"Yes, I understand it."

"Then I'm done… where are we going to eat?"

* * *

"Judge, it's three in the morning!" Mark protested when someone woke him up.

"I'm not the judge."

Mark looked blearily at Addison. "Sorry, baby-doll. I'm just tired. What is it?"

"I have a stomach ache."

Mark rubbed his head. "There's aspirin in the bathroom."

"I'm allergic to aspirin."

McCormick cursed under his breath. "Isn't there any ibuprofen?"

"I can't find any."

"Then in the morning, tell the judge to get you some ibuprofen. I have a long day of pretend gardening ahead of me."


	4. Chapter 4

"Judge, did you give Addison a key to the gatehouse?" Mark asked.

"Yes. You're her dad. I'd rather not have her annoying me because she wants you, so I gave her a key," Hardcastle said.

"I didn't get much sleep last night because of that. She had a stomach ache all night."

"That's not my fault."

"It is too your fault. You didn't buy any ibuprofen."

"Oh, she can take aspirin."

"She's allergic."

"Fine, I'll buy ibuprofen. And get that girl out of bed. She doesn't need to be in bed all day just because it's Saturday."

"I know I'm the one who wanted her here, but you can't just hand her a key so that she can keep me awake all night. How would you like it if I did that to you?"

"Go wake her up."

Addison groaned. "I don't feel good," she said.

"I know, but the judge is insisting that you get up," Mark told her. "If it were up to me, you'd stay in bed."

After much complaining, Addison finally got up. She followed Mark out to the pool, where Hardcastle was sitting. Addison kicked the former judge slightly.

He looked at her, ready to yell at her, then changed his mind. "You look like you got hit by a semi. Go back to bed."

"Now, we'll find out if I can get back inside without passing out…" Addison murmured.

"Whoa! No passing out allowed, young lady! If you think you're going to pass out, sit down."

The girl didn't have time, as she passed out before Hardcastle had finished speaking.

"That girl _is_ sick," the judge said.

Addison came around when Hardcastle nudged her foot. "Hey, you alive?"

Addison moaned. "Am I back in bed yet?" she murmured after her hand went to one side of her abdomen.

Hardcastle shot out of his chair. "I think she's having appendicitis!"

"At first I was afraid you were going to say you thought she was having a baby," Mark said as Addison passed out again.


	5. Chapter 5

"McCormick, I've got to go somewhere," Hardcastle said.

Mark had been pacing the waiting room floor impatiently. "Where are you going at a time like this, judge?"

"It's unavoidable, ok?"

"Fine, if you don't care what happens to Addison, go."

"I care, McCormick, but this is unavoidable, alright?"

"I'm sorry, judge. This is just really getting to me. I don't know what's going on in there."

"I don't blame you for feeling like this, kid. I'd feel just as frustrated in your place. Now, I'll see you when I get back. Hopefully, you'll know what's wrong with your girl by then."

* * *

Annie got up to answer the doorbell. She found Milt Hardcastle at the doorstep. "Uncle Milt, what are you doing here?"

"I need to know if you've heard from your dad yet," Hardcastle said. "He told me he was bringing something here for me because he didn't have time to stop at Gulls Way."

"Sorry, Uncle Milt. I haven't seen or heard from him. I think he's supposed to be going to Rio today. He's got a mission or something for the FBI."

"Is it ok if I wait a little while? I'd really like to be here to get that file he said he has for me."

"Yeah, sure. You can wait here. You'll just have to put up with the puppies. They're in the kitchen. They're being right pests today."

As the judge walked into the kitchen a small puppy ran over to him, yipping. "Hiya, pup!" Hardcastle said. "Which one are you?"

"That's ZsaZsa."

* * *

Sometime later

A nurse came into the waiting room. "Mr. McCormick? Your daughter's out of surgery now."

Hardcastle came in a few minutes after the nurse had left. "Well, I'm done with my errand. Is Addison out of surgery yet?"

"They just finished," Mark said.

"Good."

"Judge, what was your errand."

"Oh, nothing important. Don't worry about it."

"You know, I don't believe you. I think you were doing something that has to do with a case."

"Look, kid, you don't have to do anything in regards to cases right now. Your daughter just moved out here."

"Judge, did you try looking into Marcia's family again? Is that why you won't tell me what your little errand was?"

"You're not going to give up on this are you?"

Mark shook his head. "Nope."

"Alright, I called a friend of mine in the FBI. I asked him to see what he could find out about Addison's grandparents. Her grandfather is in the FBI, so Bill was able to get more on him. Addison's grandmother is 'a high strung bitch' in the CIA; specifically, a branch called the FIRM."

"I know she's a high strung bitch, judge. The woman would probably try to kill her own kid."

"Anyway, I'm sure you know that she kicked out all of her children before they were eighteen."

"I should know. Marcia had to live with my parents for a while. She had Addison in my bed. Believe it or not, that's very scary."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I am not the type of person to put my stories up all in one chapter. That just makes it too long to read at once. Since this is an AU fic, I don't have to follow everything strictly by the show. Also, I have only seen part of the first season. Keep all of this in mind before you go complaining about how I write this story.

* * *

Addison blinked upon coming out of anesthesia. It seemed to take forever for the nurse to notice her. "Hey, I'm over here," she muttered.

The nurse walked over and carefully checked over her.

Eventually, she was moved into another room.

"How'd you like a puppy?" Hardcastle asked when he came into the room.

"No puppies!" Mark said.

"I didn't ask you McCormick! I asked her."

"She can't have one!"

"I say she can. I know someone who has a lot of puppies they want to get rid of. Several different breeds too. She can have a cute little terrier."

Addison smiled slightly.

"No," Mark said noticing the look on her face.

She pouted.

"Alright then, I'll see if one of Annie's fifteen Dobermans are available. I'll get all of them for Addison."

McCormick jumped slightly. "Fine, she can have the terrier."

"Good. Oh, and Annie doesn't have Dobermans. I lied."

* * *

Days later

Addison's puppy dragged blanket off Mark, waking him up. "Hey!" he yelled. "Stop doing that!" When the puppy barked, Mark distinctly heard Hardcastle snigger. "I don't know who's the bad influence; you or that thing."

"Oh, she was just waking you up for me. You should have been up an hour ago. Every time I find you sleeping in, I'm going to let Gwen do things like that until you get up."

"Alright, I'm getting up."

Gwen yipped as if acknowledging Mark's words.

"Get out," Mark said.

"Who are you talking to?" Hardcastle asked.

"Both of you!"

Mark came out of the gatehouse to find Annie sitting on the Coyote's hood. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit Uncle Milt and I decided I might as well pay you a little visit first," she told him.

"You shouldn't have let the judge give Addison that dog."

"You're mad at me because I didn't know you don't like dogs? That's not my fault."

"You could have told me you had dogs."

"I didn't think that was a requirement for dates." She hopped off the Coyote. "I gave the puppy to Uncle Milt. It was _his_ choice of what to do with it."

"Then he can keep the damn dog for himself! That little thing is a nuisance!"

"She's just a puppy, Mark. She doesn't know if something's bad!"

"Then you should've housetrained the thing!"

"She _is_ housetrained. She's just not used to being here."

"I don't care if she is just a puppy! She's peeing in my bed and stealing the blankets!"

"If you don't want to date me anymore because of a puppy, just say so." Annie turned to go to the mansion.

Mark grabbed Annie's arm. "Annie, I don't mean to sound like a…"he trailed off, trying to think of the right word.

"An asshole?" she asked.

"Yeah. I don't mean to act like an asshole. I just really don't like dogs."

"You just haven't met one you like. That's all."

"Maybe…are you sure you don't want to take that dog back?"

"She's still adjusting."

"I was joking. I know you won't take it back."

"Don't make jokes like that, ok?"

"Ok," he said.


	7. Chapter 7

"Judge!" Mark called.

"We're in here!" Hardcastle shouted from the den.

"Who's in where?" Mark murmured to himself as he went into the den. "Ah, judge, you've exposed her to John Wayne," Mark whined when he saw that Addison and Hardcastle were watching a John Wayne movie.

"What did you want?" Hardcastle asked, ignoring Mark's comment.

"I caught the dog eating my one good suit!" Mark said, dropping the small dog onto Hardcastle's lap. "You know, I have a date with Annie tomorrow night."

"Were you going to wear the suit? I thought your dates with her were 'casual'."

"I was thinking about it."

"Must be some date," Addison said. "Are you going to have sex with her?"

Mark hastily covered Addison's mouth. "I swear, judge, I don't know where she learned that sort of language."

"I think I do," Hardcastle said, smirking. "She learned it from you."

"Oh, no, judge. There is no way she learned it from me."

"I think she did."

Addison yawned. "This is tiring. Can you argue about where I learn things some other time?"

"I thought you were watching a movie with the judge," Mark said when Addison came to stand next to him an hour later. He was working on a car.

"Movie's over," Addison said. "Need any help?"

"Yeah, ok. You can start by handing tools to me."

"Like this one?" she asked, picking up a wrench.

Mark looked up. "Actually, that's the one I need."

"I thought so."

Mark spent another hour working on the car with Addison.

"Is the judge home?" someone called from the driveway.

Mark looked to find one of Milt's friends from the police department there. "Yeah, he's here," Mark said. "And you tell him I'm not doing anything! My daughter just moved into town and I'm not going chasing after bad guys! You tell him that!"

"This doesn't have anything to do with you, McCormick."

Addison giggled a little.

Mark reached over and covered her mouth. "She's not used to California cops yet."

"Nice joke, McCormick," the cop said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

Addison wriggled out from under her father's hand. "I know he's a cop, Dad!"

"Are my guests showing themselves in today?" Hardcastle shouted from inside.

"Do ya want them to?" Mark shouted.

"No, you show them in, like you're supposed to! Hiya, Frank!" Hardcastle shouted the cop.

"Hi, judge Hardcastle," she police officer said as Addison followed behind her father, saying, "you got busted…"

Mark attempted to put a hand over her mouth again, but she ducked under his arm to the stairwell.

"Too slow," she said with a large grin on her face.

"I'll get you, you little brat," Mark warned.


End file.
